Saturday evening, Balsamico Palace — This was a grand castle situated atop a small hill outside of town.
"We're finally here!" Natsu, Happy, and Lucy exclaimed in unison, panting slightly upon arriving at the massive iron gates.
"So the ball is being held in this palace?"
"It's farther than I imagined."
Raizel arrived calmly behind the three of them. "For the sake of dancing, we have no choice but to walk,"
Erza followed closely behind, carrying her luggage.
Wendy, Ultear, and Kagura merely observed the towering castle without speaking.
"I mean... if it's just for dancing, you didn't all have to come along..." Lucy wore an exasperated expression.
The main gate slowly groaned open.
A girl of about fifteen or sixteen, wearing a pink gown with reddish-brown bangs and long hair, stood at the entrance and asked politely.
"May I ask who you are?"
"We are mages from Fairy Tail. I'm Lucy, and we've accepted a formal commission from Earl Balsamico." Lucy produced the official commission form and revealed the pink guild mark on the back of her hand.
"Hello. I am Aceto, daughter of the master of this palace, Balsamico," she smiled warmly.
"In that case, allow me to guide you inside. Please come this way."
Upon seeing the mark on Lucy's hand, Aceto turned sideways and gestured for them to enter the grand foyer.
"I am the client, Earl Balsamico."
Natsu pointed rudely at the Earl sitting beside Aceto and laughed unabashedly.
"So short! You're even shorter than our old man! Hahaha!"
"Be quiet for a while, Natsu!" Lucy clenched her fist, feeling a violent itch to punch him.
Earl Balsamico showed no reaction to Natsu's rude comment and got straight to the point.
"Getting to the main subject of the commission—it's slightly more complicated than what was written on the request board."
"Please go on," Erza nodded professionally.
"This concerns my proud and beautiful daughter who lives here, Aceto." The Earl gestured to the girl.
"The ball being held tonight is actually a Mage Ball to find her a suitable husband."
"Eh?! Find a husband?" Lucy covered her mouth slightly, asking with a surprised expression.
"During the climax of the ball, a very important magical ring passed down through the Balsamico family for generations will be displayed to the suitors," the Earl explained.
"So this is what Velveno is after," Lucy deduced, looking at the thief's portrait on the commission form.
"Yes. He has already bragged to the press that he will steal the family ring tonight."
"But with Velveno's distinct appearance, no matter how he disguises himself in a suit to blend into the crowd, he'll definitely be exposed immediately, right?" Erza remarked, studying Velveno's ugly portrait.
Raizel silently agreed with this point.
Velveno's appearance... how to put it... he was quite the standout in a crowd.
Unfortunately, in a very unattractive way.
He had a massive afro, a very distinct widow's peak, eyes exuding a sinister aura, thick large lips, a bushy beard, and a fierce expression with a cigar permanently clamped in his mouth.
Raizel wasn't sure exactly how old he was, but with that rough appearance, one could easily mistake him for a weathered forty-year-old.
"He knows Transformation Magic and Copy Magic," Earl Balsamico pointed a stubby finger at the commission form.
"Copy Magic? What's that?" Wendy asked curiously.
"A troublesome, rare magic that allows one to temporarily replicate and use multiple spells from other mages within a short period," Earl Balsamico replied grimly.
Raizel was highly familiar with this magic—the Magic King August could also use it to devastating effect.
But the Magic King's version wasn't temporary.
Once August replicated a spell, he retained the knowledge permanently, not just briefly.
Transformation Magic, however, was straightforward—a true physical transformation, including altering one's clothing and voice, making it incredibly hard to recognize someone unless you knew their magical signature well.
Not many in Fairy Tail mastered flawless Transformation Magic, but Mira was quite skilled at it.
"Hey! He sounds pretty impressive!" Natsu exclaimed excitedly, cracking his knuckles.
"I want you to focus your efforts on protecting that ring from falling into Velveno's hands, then capture him and send him to the Rune Knights!" the Earl demanded.
"Leave it to us!" Natsu stood up, giving a confident thumbs-up.
"We'll definitely make sure you get what you want," Erza added smoothly.
Aceto, standing nearby, pressed her lips together as if wanting to say something but ultimately remained silent.
Her eyes dimmed slightly as she quietly lowered her head.
...
Upon arriving at the luxurious temporary resting room provided by Earl Balsamico, Ultear immediately remarked.
"That Aceto girl was acting strangely."
"I noticed it too—her expression was off when her father mentioned the ring," Kagura nodded in agreement, setting down her sword.
"Huh? What was wrong? I didn't notice anything," Lucy blinked curiously, sitting on the plush sofa.
"You were too busy excitedly shouting about the 4,000,000 Jewel reward to notice anything..." Raizel crossed his arms and quipped from the doorway.
"Interesting..." Ultear lightly tapped the mahogany table, lost in thought.
"Never mind that! The most important thing now is the ball! The dance!" Erza declared sternly, slapping the table twice.
"Requip!"
She instantly changed into a stunning, flowing purple gown and silver high heels.
"Why so formal...?" Natsu groaned.
"Even though we're here for guard work, this is still the basic etiquette for attending a high-society ball!" Erza placed a hand on her hip as if stating the obvious.
"In that case... Open! Gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!" Lucy cheered.
With a puff of smoke, the stylist spirit appeared.
"Let Cancer handle your hair styling, ebi!"
"How do I look?" Wendy emerged shyly from the changing screen in a pink floor-length gown.
She wore elegant white gloves, with a sheer shawl draped over her upper body fastened by a cute pink bow.
"Wendy, you look adorable!" Lucy nodded vigorously.
"But I'm a little shy," Wendy murmured, her cheeks flushed bright red.
"Come on, team! The curtain has risen on the ball! It's our time to shine!" Erza's heart was already ablaze with the fiery passion of the dance floor.
"Erza's just as enthusiastic as she is during combat..." Gray sweatdropped.
"Alright! I'll do my best too!" Inspired by Erza's fervor, Wendy clenched her small fists to cheer herself on.
"Before that, Wendy, we need to cast Troia on Natsu," Raizel reminded her, pointing at the nauseous Dragon Slayer who was already swaying.
Kagura also emerged, having changed into a lake-blue gown made of sheer fabric and silver sequins, with a single elegant shoulder strap.
The dress was slightly longer than Kagura herself, even in heels, and Cancer had expertly altered her hairstyle into wavy locks cascading over her left shoulder.
"You look so different from usual, Kagura!" Lucy widened her eyes at the swordswoman's stunning transformation.
"That's the point. If I looked the same, it'd be too obvious I'm a guard." Kagura's usual stern demeanor while wielding her sword was too sharp and easily recognizable.
In this gown, her aura was entirely different from her normal self. She carried an air of elegance and grandeur—in short, a "goddess-like aura."
Lucy looked at Ultear standing still by the window and asked.
"Aren't you changing, Ultear?"
Ultear shook her head.
"You go ahead. Raizel and I will monitor the venue from outside the ballroom."
"We won't go in either—talking cats are too conspicuous," Carla added, crossing her arms.
"If Carla isn't going in, I'll stay outside too!" Happy raised a paw, his tail wagging incessantly.